Effects of microgravity on c-fos gene expression in osteoblast-like MC3T3-E1 cells.

The paper summarizes the data on proliferation and gravity-related gene expression of osteoblasts that were obtained from an experiment conducted under simulated and real microgravity conditions. Simulated microgravity conditions obtained in a clinostat depress proliferation of both osteoblast-like MC3T3-E1 and HeLa carcinoma cells. This depression of proliferation occurs in a collagen gel culture in which the flow of culture medium by rotation may be reduced. Interestingly, MC3T3-E1 cells which are probably one of target cells to microgravity are more sensitive than the HeLa cells. Simulated microgravity inhibited the epidermal growth factor (EGF)-induced c-fos gene expression in the MC3T3-El cells. To examine in detail the effect of real microgravity on the EGF signal transduction cascade in osteoblasts, MC3T3-E1 cells were cultured in the Cell Culture Experiment Module of the sounding rocket TR-1A6. The EGF-induced c-fos expression in cells was depressed under short-term microgravity conditions in the sounding rocket, while the phosphorylation of mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) was not affected compared with the controls grown on the ground. These results suggest that an action site of microgravity in the signal transduction pathway may be downstream of MAPK.     

Friction and Wear Properties of Amorphous Carbon Nitride Coatings in Water Lubrication

The friction and wear properties of amorphous carbon nitride(a-CN x)coatings in water lubrication were reviewed.The influences of mating materials and tribological variables such as normal load(W)and sliding speed(V)on the friction and wear properties of the a-CN x coatings were analyzed.It was indicated that the specific wear rate of the a-CN x coatings was related to the hydration reaction of mating materials with water.If the mating materials were easily hydrated,the specific wear rate of a-CN x coatings was low.The water-lubricated properties of the a-CN x coatings were better in comparison to the a-C coatings.The a-CN x/Si-based non-oxide ceramics tribo-pairs exhibited the lowest friction coefficient and wear rate.To describe their friction and wear properties at the normal loads of 3—15Nand the sliding speeds of 0.05—0.5m/s,the wear-mechanism maps for the a-CN x/SiC(Si3N4)tribo-pairs in water were developed.     

Solar power sail membrane prototype for OKEANOS mission

This paper reports on the manufacturing and evaluation of a solar power sail membrane prototype for the OKEANOS project. The in-house prototype was built by the Institute of Space and Astronautical Science, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency. Mechanical and electrical evaluation tests were conducted. The membrane, thin-film solar cells, reflectivity control devices were good condition after the manufacturing and handling. The improvements in the manufacturing process and design were found. The manufacturing process and design were fundamentally established. After the prototype, improvement plans for the manufacturing process and design were tried. We have a prospect of manufacturing the flight model sail and continue to the development.     

The Magnetospheric Multiscale Magnetometers

The success of the Magnetospheric Multiscale mission depends on the accurate measurement of the magnetic field on all four spacecraft. To ensure this success, two independently designed and built fluxgate magnetometers were developed, avoiding single-point failures. The magnetometers were dubbed the digital fluxgate (DFG), which uses an ASIC implementation and was supplied by the Space Research Institute of the Austrian Academy of Sciences and the analogue magnetometer (AFG) with a more traditional circuit board design supplied by the University of California, Los Angeles. A stringent magnetic cleanliness program was executed under the supervision of the Johns Hopkins University’s Applied Physics Laboratory. To achieve mission objectives, the calibration determined on the ground will be refined in space to ensure all eight magnetometers are precisely inter-calibrated. Near real-time data plays a key role in the transmission of high-resolution observations stored on board so rapid processing of the low-resolution data is required. This article describes these instruments, the magnetic cleanliness program, and the instrument pre-launch calibrations, the planned in-flight calibration program, and the information flow that provides the data on the rapid time scale needed for mission success.     

Plasma sheet oscillations and their relation to substorm development: Cluster and double star TC1 case study

We examined two consecutive plasma sheet oscillation and dipolarization events observed by Cluster in the magnetotail, which are associated with a pseudo-breakup and a small substorm monitored by the IMAGE spacecraft. Energy input from the solar wind and an associated enhancement of the cross-tail current lead to current sheet thinning and plasma sheet oscillations of 3–5 min periods, while the pseudo-breakups occur during the loading phase within a spatially limited area, accompanied by a localized dipolarization observed by DSP TC1 or GOES 12. That is, the so-called “growth phase” is a preferable condition for both pseudo-breakup and plasma sheet oscillations in the near-Earth magnetotail. One of the plasma sheet oscillation events occurs before the pseudo-breakup, whereas the other takes place after pseudo-breakup. Thus there is no causal relationship between the plasma sheet oscillation events and pseudo-breakup. As for the contribution to the subsequent small substorm, the onset of the small substorm took place where the preceding plasma sheet oscillations can reach the region.     

ETS-II Experiments Part III: Weather Radar System

The weather radar system used in conjunction with Earth-satellite propagation experiments for quantifying rainfall rate in a unit volume, determined by the beamwidth and the pulselength, is described. Firstly, methods for deriving rainfall rate per unit volume are stated in detail with special emphasis on calibration to determine unknown parameters associated with propagation losses in waveguides and the atmosphere. The calibration method is somewhat different from a conventional one but is useful for routine observation. Secondly, in addition to a simple explanation of the hardware of this radar system, the data modes, developed for measuring rainfall rate along the propagation path and radar reflectivity factor in the horizontal and vertical cross sections around the station are described. These data modes are effectively combined by the operational scanning modes for routine observation of propagation experiments, while each data mode can also be operated independently. Examples obtained by each data mode are also given.     

Sounding rocket experiment of bare electrodynamic tether system

An overview of a sounding rocket, S-520-25th, project on space tether technology experiment is presented. The project is prepared by an international research group consisting of Japanese, European, American, and Australian researchers. The sounding rocket will be assembled by the ISAS/JAXA and will be launched in the summer of 2009. The sounding rocket mission includes two engineering experiments and two scientific experiments. These experiments consist of the deployment of bare electrodynamic tape tether in space, a quick ignition test of hollow cathode system in space, the demonstration of bare electrodynamic tether system in space, and the test of the OML (orbital-motion-limit) current collection theory.     

Mercury Dust Monitor (MDM) Onboard the Mio Orbiter of the BepiColombo Mission

Space Science Reviews - In this chapter, we review the contribution of space missions to the determination of the elemental and isotopic composition of Earth, Moon and the terrestrial planets, with...     

Substorms and Their Solar Wind Causes

Consequences of the solar wind input observed as large scale magnetotail dynamics during substorms are reviewed, highlighting results from statistical studies as well as global magnetosphere/ionosphere observations. Among the different solar wind input parameters, the most essential one to initiate reconnection relatively close to the Earth is a southward IMF or a solar wind dawn-to-dusk electric field. Larger substorms are associated with such reconnection events closer to the Earth and the magnetotail can accumulate larger amounts of energy before its onset. Yet, how and to what extent the magnetotail configuration before substorm onset differs for different solar wind driver is still to be understood. A strong solar wind dawn-to-dusk electric field is, however, only a necessary condition for a strong substorm, but not a sufficient one. That is, there are intervals when the solar wind input is processed in the magnetotail without the usual substorm cycle, suggesting different modes of flux transport. Furthermore, recent global observations suggest that the magnetotail response during the substorm expansion phase can be also controlled by plasma sheet density, which is coupled to the solar wind on larger time-scales than the substorm cycle. To explain the substorm dynamics it is therefore important to understand the different modes of energy, momentum, and mass transport within the magnetosphere as a consequence of different types of solar wind-magnetosphere interaction with different time-scales that control the overall magnetotail configuration, in addition to the internal current sheet instabilities leading to large scale tail current sheet dissipation.     

Thin Current Sheets in the Magnetotail Observed by Cluster

The dynamics of the current sheet is one of the most essential elements in magnetotail physics. Particularly, thin current sheets, which we define here as those with a thickness of less than several ion inertia lengths, are known to play an important role in the energy conversion process in the magnetotail. With its capability of multi-point observation, Cluster succeeded to obtain the current density continuously and therefore identify structures of thin current sheets. We discuss characteristics of the thin current sheets by showing their temporal evolution and the spatial structures based on several Cluster observations.